Van Halen has spanned 3 decades
with their form of rock and heavy metal
music, always making news and selling
millions - even with a changing roster of
lead singers. When Van Halen formed the band
consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitar,
keyboards, and vocals, Alex Van Halen on
drums and percussion, Michael Anthony on bass
and vocals, and David Lee Roth on lead
vocals. The conception of Van Halen began in
Holland with the conception of the Van Halen
brothers (the brothers grew up in
California), and in the mid-70s the brothers
formed a band named Mammoth with Anthony and
Roth. In the late 70s, the band renamed
themselves Van Halen, were flown to New York
to record a demo produced by Gene Simmons of Kiss,
and were signed by Warner Bros. Records.

Van
Halen was released with the favorites
"Runnin' With The Devil,"
"Jamie's Cryin'," and the cover,
"You Really Got Me." The LP went on
to sell over 10 million copies in the U.S.

David Lee Roth officially quit
the band (or was officially fired) after
releasing his solo EP, Crazy
From The Heat. Problems over replacing a
charismatic lead singer were conquered by Van
Halen when Sammy Hagar
joined the band in June.

Balance was released and
rumors about band conflicts began as well as
Eddie Van Halen's treatment for alcoholism
(which began in 1990). Van Halen topped the Billboard
Album Rock Tracks chart for 3 weeks with
"Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)."

A hit collection, The
Best Of Van Halen, Vol. 1, was released and
appeared to mark the return of David Lee Roth
- but it was short-lived, and Roth was out of
the band once again followed by publicized
bickering by Roth and band members. Van Halen topped the Billboard
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 6 weeks with
"Me Wise Magic."

Van Halen released a brand new
LP, Van
Halen III, with a brand new lead singer,
Gary Cherone (formerly of Extreme).
Cherone was the 3rd lead singer for the band
following David Lee Roth,
who was with Van Halen for over a decade, and
Sammy Hagar who also spent
over a decade as lead singer until he quit
(although Hagar contends he was fired) in
'96. Cherone told the Los Angeles Times:
"It seems like every 10 years they kick
out the singer... so I've got 8 or 9 more
years to misbehave before I have to worry
about being on my best behavior. There will
always be a percentage of people who will
hate me because I'm not those other guys, and
then there will be a percentage who will hate
me because I'm too much like those other
guys..." Van Halen topped the Billboard
Mainstream Rock Tracks chart with
"Without You" for 6 weeks.

Van Halen cancelled a concert in
Germany after a piece of plaster fell on
drummer Alex Van Halen's arm during a
pre-show warm-up session. The drummer was
only "bruised" by the incident and
did not affect further dates. Alex Van
Halen's arm injury earlier this month has
resulted in Van Halen canceling their
remaining European performance dates.

Van Halen lost its 3rd lead
singer as Gary Cherone announced that he had
left the band. Eddie Van Halen said in a
statement: "Gary is a brother and he and
I will continue to have a personal and
musical relationship." Eddie Van Halen
also underwent hip surgery in November.

Anthony said the next Van Halen
LP will be "...more oriented toward the
early Van Halen-type sound." Rumors
continue to swirl if David Lee Roth will be
returning to the band again. In April, Roth
stated via his website: "About a year
ago, myself and the great Van Halen band
played together once or twice and it sounded
amazing.... That was last July and since then
I haven't been up to the studio, we haven't
really been in touch, and we haven't made any
music, but I am holding forth, I'm in the
shape of my life and I got the high note. I'm
ready to go." Van Halen responded via
their website: "We're aware of all the
rumors, and rumors are just that. We are
continuing to work in the studio creating
music for our next record. For any updates,
come here to our website first. We'll stay in
touch." Eddie Van Halen confirmed that
he has been battling cancer.

Eddie Van Halen talked about his
cancer: "'The way I look at it is like
this, I've run too many red lights and gotten
away with it for a long time, but it kinda
caught up with me. I believe that God doesn't
lay this on you unless you're supposed to
learn something."

After 23 years,
Van Halen and Warner Bros. Records parted
ways.

Eddie Van Halen announced on the
band's webiste that he had gotten "a
clean bill of health - from head to toe (from
cancer)." Former Van Halen lead singers, Sammy
Hagar and David Lee Roth,
began touring together.

The reunited Van Halen with
Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Eddie's son
Wolfgang Van Halen on bass, and David Lee
Roth, released A
Different Kind Of Truth. Van Halen topped the Billboard
Rock Albums chart and Hard Rock Albums chart
with A
Different Kind Of Truth.

Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples).